4.Â Where to mirror from

This is an important issue. So this section will
spend some effort to explain the backgrounds. We will say this
several times: under no circumstances should you mirror from
ftp.FreeBSD.org.

4.1.Â A few words about the organization

Mirrors are organized by country. All
official mirrors have a DNS entry of the form
ftpN.CC.FreeBSD.org.
CC (i.e. country code) is the
top level domain (TLD)
of the country where this mirror is located.
N is a number,
telling that the host would be the Nth
mirror in that country.
(Same applies to
wwwN.CC.FreeBSD.org, etc.)
There are mirrors with no CC part.
These are the mirror sites that are very well connected and
allow a large number of concurrent users.
ftp.FreeBSD.org is actually two machines, one currently
located in Denmark and the other in the United States.
It is NOT a master site and should never be
used to mirror from. Lots of online documentation leads
“interactive”users to
ftp.FreeBSD.org so automated mirroring
systems should find a different machine to mirror from.

Additionally there exists a hierarchy of mirrors, which
is described in terms of tiers.
The master sites are not referred to but can be
described as Tier-0. Mirrors
that mirror from these sites can be considered
Tier-1, mirrors of Tier-1-mirrors,
are Tier-2, etc.
Official sites are encouraged to be of a low tier,
but the lower the tier the higher the requirements in
terms as described in SectionÂ 2, “Requirements for FreeBSD mirrors”.
Also access to low-tier-mirrors may be restricted, and
access to master sites is definitely restricted.
The tier-hierarchy is not reflected
by DNS and generally not documented anywhere except
for the master sites. However, official mirrors with low numbers
like 1-4, are usually Tier-1
(this is just a rough hint, and there is no rule).

4.2.Â Ok, but where should I get the stuff now?

Under no circumstances should you mirror from ftp.FreeBSD.org.
The short answer is: from the
site that is closest to you in Internet terms, or gives you
the fastest access.

4.2.3.Â I want to access the master sites!

If you have good reasons and good prerequisites,
you may want and get access to one of the
master sites. Access to these sites is
generally restricted, and there are special policies
for access. If you are already an official
mirror, this certainly helps you getting access.
In any other case make sure your country really needs another mirror.
If it already has three or more, ask the “zone administrator” (<hostmaster@CC.FreeBSD.org>) or FreeBSD mirror sites mailing lists first.

Whoever helped you become, an official
should have helped you gain access to an appropriate upstream
host, either one of the master sites or a suitable Tier-1
site. If not, you can send email to
<mirror-admin@FreeBSD.org> to request help with
that.